New vehicle sales for January, 2007 are expected to be 1.15 million units, 3.1 percent down from January 2006, according to a recent study by Edmunds.com.
By brand, Ford was down 17.5 percent from January 2006, Chrysler was down 6.5 percent, GM was down 9.4 percent, Nissan decreased 1.4 percent, and Honda and Toyota increased 5.3 and 14.3 percent, respectively.
“The domestic automakers have cut production to better match demand while the Japanese automakers are building and selling more vehicles than ever before,” said Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com.
According to Edmunds.com, the Big Three will see their U.S. market share slip 52.4 percent from January 2006’s 57.1 percent.
“Historically, January is a weak sales month and this year is no exception,” adds Toprak. “The height of truck-buying season is behind us, which hurts most of the automakers’ month-over-month comparisons.”
